India’s retirement of its last Mikoyan MiG-21 Bison fighters relegates the iconic Cold War type to uncertain use in a small number of developing world air forces.
In a 26 September ceremony at Air Force Station Chandigarh, India’s air force gave a lavish farewell to its last MiG-21s.
The event, live streamed on social media, was well attended by Indian military leaders including the nation’s defence minister. Underlining the historic importance of the type to the Indian air force, Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh flew a single-seat MiG-21 as part of a final flypast.
With the delivery of its first MiG-21s in 1963, India became the first non-communist nation to fly the type, with Indian pilots receiving training in the Soviet Union.
Hindustan Aeronautics produced MiG-21s under license from the 1960s and would ultimately deliver over 600. The jet was the mainstay of India’s air force in wars against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971. It also served during crises between the two neighbours in subsequent years, with MiG-21s being shot down in 1999 and 2019.
A major upgrade to the Bison standard in the 2000s saw the MiG-21 receive a new radar, new avionics, and a new electronic warfare system. It also gained the ability to launch the Vympel R-77 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
Despite its longevity with India’s air force, the MiG-21 had a dubious safety record that involved hundreds of crashes, many of them fatal.
With India’s retirement of the jet after six decades in service, the MiG-21 still retains a toehold in the world of airpower.
Fleets data from aviation analytics company Cirium suggests that seven air forces still possess a combined 101 MiG-21s, though whether they are operational is open to question.
Air forces with significant numbers of MiG-21s in their inventory include North Korea (26), Angola (23) and Yemen (19). Libya, Mali, Mozambique and Sudan are also listed as owning small numbers of MiG-21s.
In addition, 11 MiG-21s are in the possession of private owners and museums.
Despite the disappearance of the MiG-21 from important air forces, the type’s legacy lives on through the Chinese copy of the type, the Chengdu J-7, as well as the export variant of the J-7, the F-7.
Cirium shows that 695 J-7/F-7s remain in service. Major users include Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, North Korea and Pakistan.
